In data storage systems, a continuous replication process is used to create a copy of the data in a directory on a first storage device and transfer it to a directory on a second storage device. Continuous replication typically takes the latest changes to data and replicates them without requiring scheduling into an existing backup job.
One of the present challenges in continuous replication is how to deal with applications that flush large amounts of data at once, but that normally have traffic patterns that are low and quiet. Examples for such applications are in-memory databases and applications that perform calculations that continuously create data but persist it only periodically. The challenge in these cases is handling the very large spike in resource requirements from the replication system, network bandwidth and storage. To address such situations, modern replication systems, such as Dell EMC RecoverPoint for virtual machines (RP4VMs) and similar systems, may have a “fast forward” replication mode, which requires less resources at the expense of losing the application journal.
Today, the peak requirement for resources (e.g., bandwidth/CPU/IOPs) is typically identified at least a few minutes after the replication process starts, and when resources are strained to the maximum. Reaching this resource limit typically causes disruption to other workloads running on the system, and might also affect the ability to replicate other protected applications. Since moving to fast forward mode will lose the journal, the hard work the system performs to replicate the data until resources are depleted is actually redundant, and would better be avoided.
What is needed, therefore, is a way to predict when large amounts of data are going to be flushed and then move to fast forward mode in advance to reduce waste of system resources and disruption to other applications.
The subject matter discussed in the background section should not be assumed to be prior art merely as a result of its mention in the background section. Similarly, a problem mentioned in the background section or associated with the subject matter of the background section should not be assumed to have been previously recognized in the prior art. The subject matter in the background section merely represents different approaches, which in and of themselves may also be inventions.